いのちの二面性 ー 仏教的にみたいのちの意義深さとありがたさ

久しぶりに日本語でのブログです。いのちについてです。

近年の日本、バブルによって物を大切にしなくなっただけでなく、ついには、いのちまでも粗末にするようになった感じがして、懸念されます。そこで、改めて、いのちについてちょっと思索してみたいと思います。

浄土真宗、大谷派、東本願寺、の新聞、“南御堂”、平成２６年一月号の第四面に“いのち輝け！今、いのちがあなたを生きている”というコーナーがあり、その第４６回目の連載に、“ふたつのいのち”という記事があります。大阪教区、竹中慈祥　先生による執筆です。

この記事は竹中先生ご自身が、かつて、信國淳先生が“世界は呼んでいる”（難波別院刊）において“寿命”について、ふたつのいのちがあると表現されていることを改めて指摘しておられます。

“寿命”という、日本人にとってはありふれた日本語による言語表現にあるこの言葉で、広辞苑には、“いのち、よわい、生命。転じて、物がいたまずに保つ期間”とあります。つまり、物質的ないのちを示唆しております。まあ、これが普通、私たちが意識している“寿命”という言葉の意味であり、それは“よわい”（齢）の積み重ねであり、その積み重ねがいのちであり、それがいたまずに継続するのが寿命であると考えます。そして、こうした意味にはどこか限りがあるということを示唆しています。

仏教的に“寿命”という言葉を解釈すれば、これは単に、齢（よわい）の積み重ねであり、限りのある生物学的、物質的ないのちだけでなく、無量寿という仏教において大変重要な意味を持つ、人間の意識や価値観に左右されないという超越的ないのちをも含んでいると言えましょう。

仏教おいて“無量”という考えは、計り知れない、という意味であり、転じて、永久性、恒久性をも示唆しています。仏教において、無量という言葉は、阿弥陀如来仏からの十二の光のひとつで、無限の恵みの光明であり、無量無辺光のことです。

正信偈には、“帰命無量寿如来、南無不可思議光”　（むりょうじゅにょらいにきみょうし、ふかしぎこうになむしてたてまつる）、いう言葉があります。これは、無量寿如来に帰命し、ということを更に、不可思議光に南無したてまつる、ということで言い換え、強調していると考えられます。というのは、帰命と南無という言葉は同じ意味だからです。つまり、“南無阿弥陀仏”という念仏に集約される、阿弥陀如来の無量の光の恵みにすべてをゆだねますという私たちの素直な心、癒しや救いへの望み、を表現したものと他なりません。

つまり、“寿命”の“寿”は正信偈の“帰命無量寿如来、南無不可思議光”という念仏（南無阿弥陀仏）の本質をついた無量寿という超越的で計り知れない阿弥陀如来の永遠の光とつながっているということです。

キリスト教信者が洗礼により主イエスキリストを救世主（メシア）として受け入れることで、単なる生物学的で限りある命だけでなく、イエス様を介して与えられる父なる神からの永遠の命の恵みに預かるということのように、仏教では、“寿命”という解釈から、素直な心で仏の道を修行しながら歩むものは、阿弥陀如来の無量寿の光の恵みをも授かることができるとも考えられるでしょう。しかも、仏教の教えは主イエスキリストの教えと食い違うものでもなく、むしろ、イエス様の教えはお釈迦様の教えと共通するところが多々あるので、仏教的な修行を通して主イエスキリストの教えの道を歩むこともできます。そうであれば、人間の命はただ限りある生物学的、物質的なものだけでなく、スピリチュアルで超越的な恒久性のある命をも含んでいると考えることができます。これは、とてもうれしいことです。ただ、限りある命をこの世でいきていて、それが終われば、もうおしまい、というのではなく、生物学上、物質的ないのちの終わりを越えて、永遠に続くいのちもあるということです。そして、この恒久性を帯びた、無量のいのちをより実感することで、私たち人間は阿弥陀如来仏や父なる神からの恩恵を深く感じ取り、ありがたく思うものです。そして、信じる人はこうした恩恵を通して、より深い生きがいを体験できます。

竹中先生は、信國先生の、“私を私としてそのまま生かしているいのち”こそ“寿”である、という教えに沿って、寿命の“命”という字の背景には、長い短い、多い少ない、損得、といったような価値を量って生きる姿であり、やがては自分自身をも思い量り、見棄ててしまうこともあるということであると説いています。一方、“寿”という字の背景には、無量寿の名が示すように、前者にあるような人間の価値観（特に、齢にまつわるような物質的、計量的価値観）に左右されることなく独立した、しかも、人間の意識を超えたレベルから、自分自身を見棄てることなく常に、“これでいいのか？”と問いかける本来のいのちの姿そのものであると諭しておられます。

つまり、人間の意識を超えたところ、人間には到底計り知れない、つまり、人間にとって無量である、無量寿とつながる、自分を自分としてあるがままに生かしているいのちが、齢で量れる、物質的、計量的で限りのあるいのちと共存しているのが、いのちの二面性であり、ふたつのいのちなのです。

更に、興味深いことに、竹中先生はこう述べられています。

“今、いのちがあなたを生きている”とは、“今まさに‘我がものと執着している概念の命’の奥底から無量寿が生きてはたらいてくださっている”ことでしょう。人間の理解では量れません。いのちはそもそも輝いているものです。その輝きを曇らせ続けている“いたずらもの”がどうやら私であったと、改めて載されます。（引用ここまで）

な～るほど、実は、“寿命”の“寿”という字はどうやら“正信偈にある”無量寿“のほか、密教的な唯識心理にある”四無量心“の智慧とつながっている感じがします。

竹中先生がいう“いたずらもの”とは唯識でいう“阿頼耶識”という一番深いレベルの心のすぐ上にある“末那識”という自我執着心という“曲者”に相応すると考えられます。そして、この末那識による“いたずら”がもたらす“幻想”を“現実”と混乱しがちな凡夫の精神的な弱み、盲点を克服するすべが、慈無量心、悲無量心、喜無量心、捨無量心、といった四つの良き心からなる四無量心なだと考えられます。

唯識では、眼識・耳識・鼻識・舌識・身識・意識・末那識、阿頼耶識の八つの識があり、特に、末那識という自我執着が作用し、現実を、森田療法でいうような“あるがまま”の状態で受け入れることが困難になります。そうであれば、“寿命”のうち、齢で計り知れるレベルの生物的、物質的な“命”のレベルにとどまって、煩悩に苛まれます。しかし、”寿命“というふたつのいのちのうち、”命“の上にある”寿“といった無量寿の恵みをありがたく認識し体験しはじめることで、私たちのいのちはより四無量心によるものとなり、末那識の”いたずら“に影響されがちな識のレベルを超えたものとなっていくいことでしょう。そして、それが無の境地へと私たちのいのちを導いてくれるのでしょう。

こうした二面性を持ついのちを与えられ、生かしていただいている今、それだけでありがたいことです。たとえ、末那識の“いたずら”により、思ったより長く生きられなくても、たとえ、願っていたほど齢を重ねられなくても。。。今、生きているというより、生かされていることを悔いなく、よりしっかりと体験しておきたいものです。そして、こうした体験と感謝の心が“寿命”の中の、“寿”にある無量寿へつながり、四無量心へと心は成長し、無の境地に至り、開眼できるのですから。

合掌

The Third Revelation of the Risen Lord to the Disciples – The Risen Jesus Host Fish and Bread Reunion Breakfast, Reconcile with Peter, Cures Peter’s Anxiety by Practicing Morita Therapy

　　　　日本語要約：

キリストって実は森田療法を施した！（私の勝手な持論ですが）

復活後のキリストはガレリアに戻ったペテロとダチが漁をしているときに突如出現！それまでまったく魚が獲れなかったのに、キリストが現れてからあらら！網いっぱいはちきれそうになるまでの大漁！ここでいう魚とはキリストによる神からの恵みの比喩的象徴だといえる。つまり、キリスト教の教えでは、私達凡人（仏教では凡夫）がいくら”偉い”、”なんでも自分でできる”と”思い込んでいても（森田療法でよくあつかう事象）、やはり、キリストなしでは無力なもんである。ペテロはキリストに出会うまではガリレア一の漁師だった。だから、彼の網に魚がまったくかからないことなんてあり得ない。でも、この夜、ペテロとダチの網には魚一匹もかからない！おかしい！しかし、キリストから離れたペテロは無力なもんであるということ示す教訓であると考えられる。こうしたキリスト教の教えは浄土宗、浄土真宗で教える他力本願とどことなく相通ずるところがる。

ペテロとダチが魚いっぱいの網を引きながら岸にたどり着くと、キリストはすでに”火鉢”で魚を焼いており、ペテロをはじめとする弟子たちにさっき獲った魚をちょっと持ってきて、一緒に朝食（トーストと焼き魚）を食べようと誘う。　その後、ペテロと和解。ペテロはキリストが逮捕された時、キリストを見捨てて逃げた。そして、”お前、確か、キリストのダチだろ？”と聞かれても、シラきって知らん振り。逮捕されることを恐れていたから。だから、ペテロにはキリストへの”借り”があった。でも、和解したとはいえ、ペテロにはまだキリストの一番弟子として、キリストの救世事業のボスとしての資格を得るにはまだ不安が残っていた。そこで、キリストは、短期決戦型の森田療法をすることでペテロの不安を治癒し、ペテロはその後、もう振り返ることなく、勇敢にアガペの愛でもってキリストに尽くした。これが最初の教皇の姿である。


The Risen Lord – the Best Fishing Advisor! No Jesus Means No Fish, No Matter How Good You Think You Are Good at Fishing!

During the very first Easter season, the risen Christ laid the solid foundation for the Church through the disciples.  Otherwise, we would not have the Acts of the Apostles, from which Easter season’s first readings are drawn, written.  One of this ground work s that Jesus did to prepare for the Church was to reinstate Peter and other disciples when he appeared to the disciples in Galilee.

The disciples, including Peter, returned to their place of origin, Galilee, from Jerusalem, after the death and resurrection of Jesus.  They met the resurrected Jesus in Jerusalem, as described in the last Sunday’s Gospel reading (John 20:19-31).  Even though they had received the Holy Spirit from the risen Lord (20:22), they must have thought that their special time with Jesus was over, as they went back to their home region, Galilee, and returned to their old living – fishing.  Otherwise, they would have stayed in Jerusalem and carried on the mission of Jesus, overcoming fear of being killed.

Today’s Gospel (John 21:1-19) tells that the disciples were not quite ready to take risks and proclaim the Good News yet, though they have met the risen Lord more than once in Jerusalem.  So, the risen Christ had to show up to them for the third time.

Imagine if the Gospel story had ended simply with the narratives of Thomas’ amazement of touching the wounds of the risen Lord.  Imagine that the disciples simply went back to their old business – fishing after Jesus left but the resurrected Jesus had never appeared to them.  There would not be the Church at all – because until Peter had completely transformed himself, through reconciliation with Jesus, he could not lead other disciples to build the Church.  Unless Peter did not build the first Church in Jerusalem, Paul’s mission could not establish the seven Churches in Asia (see Revelation ch.2 and 3 about the seven churches).

Back in his home region, Galilee, Peter seemed to have grown bored. He had to do something to take his mind off, to kill this uneasy feeling without Jesus, after all these eventful three years with him. Peter did not know what to do. So, he simply decided to go fishing – just as he used to before he had met Jesus for the first time. And, the rest of the disciples followed unanimously. 

Peter and his fellow fishermen (disciples) were not getting any fish without his Lord, Jesus, even though he was a proud fisherman of Galilee.  It was a frustrating fishing endeavor, spending all night of hard work for no catch. But, once Jesus appeared on the shore and gave an instruction, they got net-full of fish. This tells us that our efforts could be futile if we were not with the risen Christ – even though we were experts on whatever we think we are.  The frustrating fishing story of today’s Gospel reading really reminds us that our efforts without Jesus could only frustrate us. 

If you identify yourself as Christian and often feel frustrated as your honest hard work is hardly rewarded, it could be the case that you are not fully in touch with the risen Christ.  In Christian understanding, we are not able to make our very best without Christ. We cannot become our best solely through our own efforts.  In order for Christians to grow into the fullness, grace from God is indispensable. This important teaching of Christianity echoes the teaching of “Tarikihongan/他力本願” (necessity of Amitabha Buddha’s mercy) in Pure Land School of Japanese Buddhism, including the Shin Buddhism of Japan.  It is also to remind of our need of humility: acknowledging that we cannot take all credits for our accomplishments and our salvific experience.

Since the disciples were not Buddhist, instead of Gautama (Shakamuni) Buddha, they needed to be reunited with Christ, in order for them to be their best and to make their efforts fruitful.

Once the disciples met the risen Lord, though they did not yet recognize him as the Lord, following his command, they got miraculous catch, with net full of fish. Then, they realized that the man standing on the shore, giving the fishing tip, was the risen Lord!  From that moment on, they have never gone back to fishing but to begin following the Way of Jesus.  They have never looked back! This echoes Isaiah 43:18, “Remember not the events of the past, the things of long ago consider not”, which we read on the 5^th Sunday of Lent.

Jesus Hosting Fish and Bread Breakfast for His Disciples – Is It Eucharistic?

On the shore, Jesus hosted fish and bread breakfast with the disciples, charcoal fire ready (John 21:10-14). Jesus asked the disciples to bring some of their fresh catch, which is an outcome of their following of his command to put the net in the right place(John 21:6). He must already have had bread.

This fish and bread breakfast must be a great way to bring disciples, who abandoned Jesus at the time of his arrest (Matthew 26:56, also see Matthew 26:31), back together with him.  This also reminds that a good meal brings people together in harmony as such is the essence of table fellowship.

Though the scripture does not say whether Jesus broke the bread to distribute to the disciples or not on the shore, it is obvious that he raised the bread to give thanks and broke the bread to distribute.  What else would Jesus do with his disciples when he has a loaf of bread? 

As the two disciples realized that a man who gave thanks and broke the bread was the risen Christ in Emmaus (Luke 24:30-32), remembering from Jesus doing the same at the Last Supper (Luke 22:19, Mark 14:22, Matthew 26:26), there was a Eucharistic value in the breakfast that Jesus hosted for the disciples as he shared his bread with them.  Also, this fish and bread breakfast Jesus hosted for his disciples has some resemblances to Jesus feeding the hungry multitude with fish and bread (Matthew 14:13-21, Mark 6:31-44, Luke 9:10-17, John 6:5-15). Although when Jesus fed the multitude, he multiplied more than enough food to feed such a large crowd out of a scant amount of fish and bread, there were more fish than they could eat this time, because the disciples caught net full of fish – thanks to Jesus’ command.  Jesus asked to bring only some of the fish they caught to host the breakfast. So, obviously, there were far more fish than the amount to fill everyone’s stomach.  Regardless, there is something about having fish and bread with the Lord. 

After all, the fish and bread breakfast on the shore that Jesus had with the disciples must be a nice reunion.

Jesus Practices Morita Therapy (a Japanese Psychotherapy) to Cure Peter’s Anxiety Upon Reconciling with Him, to Commission Him as the First Pope

This breakfast reunion was followed by Peter’s reconciliation and reinstatement. 

In my yesterday’s (April 13, 2013) entry,  I put a detailed reflection of transformative conversation between Jesus and Peter, consulting the original Greek text.  

Just to sum it up, Peter was not really answering  the Jesus’ three-fold questions of inquiring Peter’s level of love for him as he had expected. Jesus wanted Peter to show his “agape” for him. Jesus wanted Peter to commit to him with “agape”. But, Peter kept showing only “phileo” in his answers to Jesus’ inquiries.  Unfortunately, an English translation bible cannot show this because both “agape” and “phileo” are translated as “love”.  As I pointed in my previous blog entry, “phileo” should be translated as “affection” instead of “love”. 

Because of this gap between Jesus’ expectation on Peter’s commitment of love for him and Peter’s response, Jesus had to preach Peter a bit more – telling Peter, “when you were younger, you used to dress yourself and go where you wanted; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go”(John 21:18).  This means that Jesus was metaphorically telling Peter that he wants Peter to show his love strong enough to die for him.  This level of love – love strong enough to enable Peter to give his own life for Christ – is the very “agape” that Jesus kept asking Peter.  This level of self-sacrificing love is what was required for Peter to tend and feed the Lord’s sheep. 

It seemed that Peter began to understand why Jesus kept asking him if he love Jesus with “agape” when he heard this metaphor of his own future crucifixion.  But, Peter’s heart was not yet quite solid in accepting Jesus’ invitation to take care of his sheep because he looked back and saw John, the disciple Jesus loved (John 21:20-21) and asked Jesus, “What about him?” This clearly came out of Peter’s residual anxiety.

To snap Peter’s anxiety, Jesus said, “What if I want him to remain until I come? What concern is it of yours? You follow me”(John 21:22). This is Jesus playing a great psychotherapist to Peter.  It’s obvious that Jesus’ kind of psychotherapy modality is a brief therapy.  Jesus did not allow Peter to delve into his own anxiety. Instead, Jesus prompted Peter’s attention from others to what he has to do – to mind his own business rather than another person’s (John’s). 

As a psychotherapist, I often see that anxious clients and patients tend to see themselves only in comparison to others.  Because of this habit they have, they are more likely to suffer from anxiety, frustration and inferiority complex. Because of this, they often complain about their lives, feeling that life is not fair. In fact, life is never fair!

Those who have a healthy sense of self-esteem do not define themselves in comparison to others. Even though life is never fair to them, they just do their best with what they can do. Those with healthy self-esteem just mind their own business with their best. 

This was the last psychological hurdle that Peter had to overcome in order to be qualified to be entrusted by Jesus to take care of his sheep – the followers of his way, the Christians. 

Obviously, Jesus, the “psychotherapist for Peter”, felt that Peter had enough therapy session for the day, following the fish and bread reunion breakfast.  So, he told Peter to follow him – to follow his way – way toward giving up his own life for the sake of Christ, as Jesus did for the Father’s will to save the sinful humans. 

Though Peter might still have had some anxiety in becoming Jesus’ trusted shepherd to follow his way, taking care of his sheep, Jesus decided that it is best that Peter just overcome his remaining anxiety by actually following his way. Jesus must have believed that the best way of curing anxiety is to let Peter begin to do what he was still afraid of doing. 

This way of Jesus’ psychotherapy for Peter echoes Morita Therapy’s emphasis on doing rather than just thinking and talking.  In Morita Therapy, this important clinical principle is called “taitoku/体得”, literally meaning that learning through a whole body experience, putting the body into the very action. 

Morita Therapy, a great psychotherapeutic method developed by Japanese psychiatrist, Shoma (Masatake) Morita (森田正馬),  emphasizes practicing what a client or patient can do even though the client or patient may still feel anxious or not so confident  or ready to do yet.  Morita Therapy believes that it can be a waste of time and energy to keep talking about how anxious a client or patient feels to do what he or she has to do now.  It is because talking about anxiety can allow the client or patient to get obsessed with the anxiety itself.  The most effective way to detach the anxiety is to face the very anxiety by doing what he or she feels anxious to do, step by step.  

This application of Morita Therapy is what Jesus applied to Peter to finally cure his anxiety  so that he can demonstrate his “agape” for Jesus.

Though it was not easy for Peter to accept Jesus’ invitation to love him with “agape”, Peter was no longer anxious to follow Jesus’ way, taking care of his sheep.  He was not concerned about himself and afraid of his death as he was commissioned to be the shepherd for the Lord’s people (his sheep).  That is why Peter, together with other disciples, was “rejoicing that they (persecutors) had been found worthy”(Acts  5:41), as in today’s first reading . 

In fact,  his “agape” is what is required for Pope to shepherd the estimated 1.2 billion Catholics worldwide as a successor of Peter. 

Today, “Peter” is Pope Francis I.  May God always bless Pope Francis I to keep his “agape” for Christ.